Winter roars back into Houston today

Posted by Eric Berger at 6:56 AM on January 11, 2018

It’s quite warm this morning across Houston, with low temperatures only falling into the mid-60s for most of the area. But don’t let that fool you—a strong cold front will blow through the area today and change our weather through the weekend.

It’s moderate along the coast this morning, but much colder air is coming. (Weather Bell)

Thursday

Our muggy (for winter) conditions will prevail this morning, allowing high temperatures to likely rise into the low 70s for much of Houston. However, a line of showers will develop later this morning, and move through the region between about 10am and 2pm, with the cold front at the back end of these showers. Most areas shouldn’t see more than a tenth or two of an inch of rain as the storms move through fairly quickly. In their wake we’ll be left will very blustery conditions, as gusts may rise to about 30mph this afternoon and evening. (A Gale Warning is in effect for offshore, where seas will be rough. This afternoon and this evening would be a very bad time to take the boat out.) All of this should lead to a chilly night, with a light freeze for the northern half of Houston, and wind chills down in the 20s.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday

Cold, and colder. A northerly flow on Friday and Saturday will continue to bring colder, drier air into the region, and this will effectively give us three cool days—with highs of around 50 degrees—and three cold nights with Saturday night the coldest. We could see a light freeze for most of Houston on Sunday morning, with low temperatures falling into the 20s for northern parts of the metro area. Although temperatures to start the Houston Marathon Sunday morning will be cold, they will be moderated by the lack of substantial wind, and a rising sun to bring a sunny day. (It beats 65 and humid, in my book, by a lot).

Sunday morning’s forecast low temperature. (National Weather Service)

MLK Day

All in all, this looks to be a fine day for parades or other activities. Under partly sunny skies, we can expect to see highs near 60 degrees.

Tuesday and beyond

Another front on Monday night or Tuesday morning will chill Houston back down again for a few days, but the end of next week and beyond do look warmer for the region.